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EveryParampara

Music, dance and storytelling

Songs, dances, theatre, epic poetry and oral history.

Music, dance and storytelling traditions are the performances that a community passes down by ear, eye and heart: the epic poem recited by a griot, the dance in a circle at a wedding, the shadow play of Java, the ballad of a village, the lullaby of a grandmother. They carry history, law and humour in forms that people can remember. Many are linked to festivals and rites, and many are on UNESCO's lists of intangible heritage. Here they are gathered by country, with notes on who performs them and when.

Songs and dances of the people

Folk music and dance are community property: they are learnt by joining in, not by lessons, and they change a little with every generation. Circle dances, line dances and couple dances accompany harvests and weddings, and instruments such as the drum, the fiddle, the pipe and the lute are made locally. In many places, there are separate songs for work, for love, for mourning and for children, and each has its own time and place.

Stories and theatre

Oral storytelling holds a society's memory: epics, myths, fables, proverbs and riddles told by elders. Some become formal theatre, such as kabuki and noh in Japan, wayang in Indonesia, the mumming plays of Britain or the Ramlila of India, which retells the Ramayana in a month of evenings. These forms often depend on one master teaching one student, and communities and governments now support them to keep them alive.

About this page

Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background on Music, dance and storytelling (kind of tradition). Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

RegionSouth AsiaSoutheast AsiaEast AsiaCentral Asia and the CaucasusMiddle EastNorth AfricaSub-Saharan AfricaEuropeNorth AmericaLatin America and the CaribbeanOceania
MealBreakfastLunchDinnerSupperTea-time and snacking customsTea, coffee and drinking ceremoniesSweets given and sharedFeasts and festival mealsFasting and breaking the fast
🇦🇷 Salta, Argentina and 3 moreZamba A graceful Argentine couple dance of circling steps and fluttering white handkerchiefsPerformance 🇨🇳 Beijing, China and 2 moreChinese opera戲曲 / 戏曲 (xìqǔ) A sung, danced and acrobatic theatre from China, in over a hundred regional stylesPerformance 🇱🇰 Kandy, Sri LankaKandyan danceඋඩරට නැටුම් The sacred dance of Sri Lanka's hill country, kept in temple and on the stagePerformance 🇹🇷 Samsun, TurkeyHoronχορόν Line dances of Turkey's eastern Black Sea coast, danced with shaking shouldersPerformance 🇧🇷 Rio de Janeiro, BrazilCapoeira An Afro-Brazilian martial art and musical game played inside a circleGame 🇩🇰 Copenhagen, DenmarkFaroese chain danceFøroyskur dansur A living medieval chain dance guided by sung ballads in the Faroe IslandsPerformance 🇹🇴 TongaTauʻolunga A Tongan dance of hand gestures and steady eyes, performed by young women at weddingsPerformance 🇹🇷 Konya, Turkey and 4 moreMevlevi OrderMevlevilik A Sufi tradition from Konya known for its whirling ceremony and devotion to Rumi's teachings.Spiritual 🇧🇿 Dangriga, Belize and 4 morePunta rock A fast-paced Garifuna dance music mixing traditional percussion with electric guitarsPerformance 🇲🇺 Mauritius and 3 moreSegaséga A music and dance tradition from Mauritius and Réunion with Afro-Malagasy roots.Performance 🇮🇳 Gwalior, India and 1 moreDhrupadध्रुवपद The foundational vocal and instrumental classical music tradition of northern IndiaPerformance 🇺🇸 New Orleans, United StatesKrewe Carnival clubs that stage parades, balls, and pageantry along the Gulf CoastFestival 🇲🇦 Morocco and 5 moreAndalusi classical musicطرب أندلسي A classical suite of vocal and instrumental music shared across North AfricaPerformance 🇸🇴 Somalia and 1 moreDhaanto A Somali folk dance and music style used for morale and celebration in the Horn of Africa.Performance 🇬🇭 Ghana and 2 moreEwe drumming The drum ensembles of the Ewe people, with iron bells, rattles and talking drumsPerformance 🇵🇾 ParaguayParaguayan harp Paraguay's national harp, strung with 32 to 46 strings and plucked with long fingernailsPerformance 🇰🇷 Seoul, South Korea and 1 moreTalchum탈춤 A Korean mask dance drama in which masked actors sing, dance and mock the powerfulPerformance 🇭🇹 Haiti and 1 moreRara A Haitian street music of bamboo trumpets and drums, played in the Easter seasonPerformance 🇦🇺 Sydney, AustraliaSongline A navigational and spiritual path across Australia that links ancestral stories to the physical landscape.Folklore 🇳🇬 Oyo, Nigeria and 1 moreEgungunEgúngún Yoruba ancestral masquerades bringing blessings, counsel and moral renewalSpiritual 🇺🇸 New York, United States and 2 moreSalsa A lively Latin partner dance rooted in Afro-Caribbean rhythms and social dance traditionsPerformance 🇬🇲 Gambia and 4 moreKoraߞߐߙߊ A 21-string West African harp-lute played by hereditary storytellers and bardsPerformance 🇲🇱 Bamako, Mali and 5 moreGriotjeli, ߖߋ߬ߟߌ in N'Ko script West Africa's hereditary keepers of spoken history, praise and musicPerformance 🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreMizmarمزمار A traditional double-reed instrument and drum ensemble for weddings and folk dancesPerformance 🇯🇵 JapanMiko巫女 A woman who serves at a Shinto shrine, dancing, cleansing and helping with ritesSpiritual 🇵🇭 Philippines and 1 morePangalay A traditional fingernail dance of the Tausūg and Bajau peoples in the Sulu Archipelago and Sabah.Performance 🇮🇳 Goa, India and 2 moreShehnai A traditional reed instrument played at weddings and temple festivals across IndiaPerformance 🇵🇭 PhilippinesPandanggo A lively Philippine folk dance of quick steps, clapping and balanced lightsPerformance 🇼🇸 Samoa and 3 moreSiva Samoa A graceful Samoan dance marked by subtle, expressive arm and hand movementsPerformance 🇮🇪 Dublin, Ireland and 2 moreIrish stepdance A percussive dance form with swift, intricate footwork and an upright torsoPerformance 🇮🇸 IcelandKvæði Long narrative ballads sung during traditional chain dances in the Faroe IslandsPerformance 🇵🇰 Karachi, Pakistan and 2 moreSouth Asian truck art The craft of painting and adorning cargo trucks and buses across India and Pakistan.Craft 🇹🇿 Zanzibar, TanzaniaSauti za Busara A February meeting of musicians in Zanzibar's Old FortPerformance 🇯🇵 Kyoto, JapanKyōgen狂言 A traditional Japanese comic theatre of short farces, spoken dialogue and satirePerformance 🇬🇭 Ghana and 2 moreAgbadza An Ewe music and dance, born of war songs and kept for funerals, weddings and festivalsPerformance 🇮🇩 Ubud, IndonesiaBarongᬩᬭᭀᬂ A sacred Balinese masked dance drama depicting the eternal struggle of good and evilPerformance 🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan and 1 moreBonsai盆栽 A Japanese craft of keeping small trees in shallow pots, shaped for contemplationCraft 🇬🇪 Tbilisi, Georgia and 4 moreGeorgian polyphonic singing Several voices at once, sung without instruments at Georgian feasts and weddingsPerformance 🇺🇾 Montevideo, UruguayNostalgia NightNoche de la Nostalgia Uruguay's nationwide retro music and dance celebration held every 24 AugustFestival 🇿🇦 Cape Town, South AfricaGumboot danceIsicathulo A percussive South African dance born in the mines, performed in Wellington boots to communicate and celebrate.Performance 🇮🇪 Ros Muc, Ireland and 2 moreSean-nós dancedamhsa ar an sean nós An improvised solo Irish dance: low footwork, free arms and a loud battering beatPerformance 🇮🇳 Puri, India and 1 morePattachitra A cloth scroll painting tradition from eastern India featuring mythological stories and folk tales.Performance 🇮🇳 India and 5 moreGhazalغَزَل A short rhyming poem of love and parting, recited and sung from Arabia to South AsiaPerformance 🇮🇳 IndiaWarli painting Sacred white rice paste murals made on red clay walls in western IndiaCraft 🇺🇸 Raven's Roost, United StatesStomp dance A ceremonial night dance kept by Eastern Woodland tribes in the United States and Oklahoma.Performance · Dinner 🇸🇬 Singapore, SingaporeNational Day Parade Singapore's annual independence day celebration of parades, music and fireworksCeremony 🇹🇷 Kayseri, Turkey and 4 moreHalay A traditional line and circle folk dance kept across Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Iran, and Syria.Performance 🇮🇳 IndiaTheyyam A sacred ritual dance and divine invocation from North Malabar in IndiaSpiritual
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Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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